Italy - Factors to watch on April 3

(Updates removing reference to ruling in Dolce & Gabbana case after postponement) The following factors could affect Italian markets on Thursday.

Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).

POLITICS

President Giorgio Napolitano receives Queen Elizabeth II (1100 GMT) * The law decrees on the sale of public stakes in the postal service and airport authority will bind the government to use proceeds for debt reduction purposes, defying parliamentary pressure to use them otherwise, MF reported. * The government and the Treasury are working frantically to fund 18 billion euros in planned measures that threaten to push Italy’s budget deficit above a 3 percent ceiling set by EU rules, la Repubblica reported.

ECONOMY

Markit releases March service PMI data (0745 GMT).

COMPANIES

BANKS

The European Central Bank will push banks to the limits with data requests for its upcoming review of their books and insist on common treatment for all 128 banks, it told Reuters, signalling it will not give way to complaints raised by lenders.

ENI

The possibility of a suspension of Russian gas supplies to Europe because of the Ukraine crisis is extremely remote, the chief executive of Italian oil and gas group said on Wednesday.

Eni expects to achieve a significant price reduction in its long-term gas supply contract with Algeria this year, a senior executive said on Wednesday.

Mozambique has signaled it would approve a move by Eni to reduce its stake in a natural gas field off the East African country’s coast, the Italian oil and gas group said on Wednesday.

Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni will be answering questions before the Senate. (1200 GMT)

PM Renzi told investors at a meeting in London on Wednesday that the oil and gas group is not up for sale, Il Messaggero reported.

PRADA

The Italian luxury fashion group is pinning its hopes on men’s growing taste for finely-cut suits and leather bags to drive a pick up in sales growth in the coming years.

FINMECCANICA

A consultant accused of bribing Indian officials to help a unit of Italy’s Finmeccanica win a helicopter contract has struck a plea bargain with Italian prosecutors, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

* INTESA SANPAOLO

CEO Carlo Messina told the Financial Times the bank is in talks with the world’s leading distressed debt investors to sell them some of the 27 million euro non-performing loans the bank has placed in its new internal bad bank.

* TELECOM ITALIA

The board of the telecoms group meets on Thursday, Il Messaggero reported.

* BANCA POPOLARE DI MILANO

It is premature to talk about possible mergers, CEO Giuseppe Castagna told Il Messaggero, but things will be different in 1-1/2 or two years. BPM is then likely to be “a very welcome partner” thanks to a strong presence in six or seven regions, with few potential overlappings.

* BANCA MONTE DEI PASCHI DI SIENA

The stake that U.S. money manager BlackRock has built in the bank could be of as much as 8.5 percent, MF wrote citing dealers, above a disclosed 5.75 percent holding.

The shareholder pact that Monte Paschi’s shareholder foundation has sealed with Fintech and BTG Pactual entails keeping their stakes for two years and presenting a single slate of candidates to the board, La Stampa reported.

ENEL GREEN POWER

ALITALIA

Etihad Airways has finished examining Alitalia’s books and will soon present a plan to revamp the loss-making Italian airline that is likely to include demands for job cuts and debt restructuring, several sources familiar with the matter said.

Shareholder resistance to conditions posed by Etihad Airways on its possible investment in the Italian airline are almost dealt with, a government source told Reuters.

Alitalia’s CEO Gabriele Del Torchio said it would take a few days more to conclude the initial talks with Etihad, adding that the signals that were coming from Abu Dhabi were positive, ANSA news agency reported.

BANCA GENERALI

Italian asset manager Banca Generali said on Wednesday its total net inflows stood at 280 million euros ($385 million) in March, up 40 percent on the monthly average of the past year.